


fire walk with me

by dryadfiona



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Nightmares, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dryadfiona/pseuds/dryadfiona
Summary: Rachel keeps having nightmares. Chloe tries to help.
Relationships: Rachel Amber/Chloe Price
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	fire walk with me

Los Angeles is everything Chloe dreamed it would be, at fifteen and sharing a kiss covered in ash. It's absolutely massive and there's no shortage of things to do, to see, to go. One time, she took the truck and drove for hours and hours and never reached the end of the city. Sure, there's all these neighborhoods, and people here talk about them like they're distinct places, but they're all LA, and it's just as sprawling and loud and busy as Chloe wants.

There's her people in the smaller neighborhoods with bars on the windows and a little too much litter around, sharp-edged and tattooed and unpolished, but they welcome her fine when she talks about how she fixed the truck. She doesn't mention how they actually got to LA, because it's a hell of a lot less impressive than a rugged road trip down the coast.

There's Rachel's people, too, and for awhile, Chloe sees Rachel truly in her element. She'd thought seeing Rachel around the skater boys was her element, and then it was at punk shows, and then it was at the Vortex Club, and then it was whatever mess they got into when it was just the two of them. But then Chloe saw her on the beach, surfing and smiling at everyone. She sees Rachel get approached at coffee shops about acting jobs and get every modeling contract she goes to.

Chloe's so goddamn proud of her, and she knows she'll be jealous when Rachel inevitably takes up one of the charming strangers on their offers, but until then, she's the best friend Rachel's got in LA, so she'll hold onto that. They're far enough from Arcadia Bay that if--when Rachel leaves her, she'll be able to survive it. She'll have gotten her own space and her own home then. 

It's getting harder and harder to remind herself that Rachel isn't hers like _that_. When they'd met, it seemed so easy, so likely, destined, even. Sure, it'd been dangerous, to Chloe's heart and the woods around Arcadia Bay alike, but somehow, she hadn't been able to maintain the same distance she knew she should. Everyone leaves, and she knows that--Max did, Steph did, Drew and Mikey did, her dad did. Rachel's left, even, but she comes back. Chloe can't hold onto that hope that Rachel will always come back to her, though. When she doesn't, it'll destroy her.

She's lost a best friend before. She can't go through that again. (Even if Max did come back, too.)

When Chloe gets home from work, her keys getting stuck in the lock _again_ , she opens the door with a lot more force than she meant to. It squeaks along their entryway, and she winces.

Thankfully, Rachel doesn't wake up from where she's passed out on the couch. Her hair fans out behind her where her head rests on the arm, and her expression is soft and relaxed in a way it only ever is when she's asleep. Chloe can't help but look, despite the hiss in the back of her mind that this isn't _for_ her, she needs to look _away,_ she's just making things worse for herself--

Rachel says something utterly unintelligible and rolls over, curling in on herself.

Chloe ignores the tug on her heartstrings and closes the door, making sure to close and lock it quietly. She's got work to do, anyway, so she just heads into her room and boots up the same shitty laptop she's had for three years, pulls up the GED website and starts. She couldn't give less of a shit about close reading, or whatever, but Max had suggested she go for her GED and Rachel had been so encouraging--

Shit, she's back on Rachel. She doesn't need this ever, but especially not right now, not when she's finally figuring herself out away from the same town she's been in her whole life. She's happy, probably. That's probably what this is, this light feeling in her chest that she remembers from before her dad got in that crash. 

Chloe realizes she's been staring at the same paragraph she's supposed to analyze for symbolism for a few minutes and closes the tab, annoyed. She's not gonna be able to focus on anything today, apparently, so she grabs her bong and starts watching stupid shit on YouTube. She has to dismiss a ton of suggestions about Blackwell, but finds something about ghost ships and creepy notes and, strangely, some anime art in the middle of all of it, and since she's just trying to distract herself from thoughts of her roommate, so it works.

She's starting to get a little bit scared by the whole thing, more because of the person's tone than because of the cold cases they're discussing, when she hears a _thud_ from the living room. Her movements feel slower than they should be, but she knows from experience that she's probably moving just fine, so she grits her teeth and keeps going.

Sure enough, Rachel's sitting on the floor by the couch, head in her hands, shaking. Chloe's not sure if it's the quiet sobbing that she can usually handle or the complete calm she has no idea how to deal with, but she kneels down next to her and says, "Rachel?"

Rachel immediately pushes her way into Chloe's arms, accidentally headbutting Chloe in the process. Chloe winces, but forces herself not to flinch back, just holds Rachel and tells herself her nose is _fine,_ it's just bruised, if anything.

"'m sorry," Rachel says, and Chloe can feel her tears against her chest. Okay. The one she can handle, then. "I'm sorry, Chloe, I don't--"

"Ssh," Chloe says. "It's not your fault."

Rachel makes an unhappy sound against her sternum but doesn't deny it, which Chloe thinks is good. Probably. She's not a therapist. 

"I'm here," Chloe says. "And you're here. You're _here,_ Rachel."

Rachel shakes her head, and Chloe squeezes her a little harder. Rachel keeps shaking, and Chloe brings her hand up and down Rachel's back in what's hopefully a comforting gesture.

The sun doesn't go down before Rachel pulls away, but it's a helluva lot lower in the sky. Then they get to the worst part of this, in Chloe's opinion, which is when Rachel leans in and presses her forehead to Chloe's.

It's fucking awful. Rachel looks right at her, _through_ her, and the raw affection in her eyes is almost what Chloe wants. Chloe can't pull away or she's a fucking asshole, but she hates being examined like this, hates seeing something so close to love in Rachel's eyes. Chloe wants her so goddamn bad, and it's like being taunted with it. With her.

Rachel pulls back and smiles at her, still as bright as ever even though her eyes are red and there are tear tracks down her cheek, and says, "So. Dinner?"

She means that Chloe can't ask about it tonight or ever. Chloe smiles, knowing it's a shitty imitation of Rachel's at _best_ , and says, "As long as you're cooking."

**Author's Note:**

> title because something something laura palmer something something trauma something something au i'll never write. hope you enjoy tho!


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